


Just a Few More Miles

by ohaiitsarielle



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Athletes, F/M, Runners, Running, Seattle, Slow Burn, Summer Love, Washington State, half-marathon training, marathon training
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:28:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23779165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohaiitsarielle/pseuds/ohaiitsarielle
Summary: Rey is always pleased to see new faces every Monday night at her running club. From the new transplants who are looking to make new friends in Seattle despite the infamous Seattle Freeze, to the ones who were dragged along because they needed a kick of motivation from their roommates.One day her friend Poe manages to convince his coworker Ben Solo to come out for a run, and his face is one that she couldn't forget even if she tried.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 5
Kudos: 26





	1. Say Your Name

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I've been marathon training since February. That combined with the pandemic screwing me over meeting up with my running club, this fic is the result. Also, I've been down the rabbit hole of Reylo fanfiction and I need more Modern AUs. 
> 
> Obviously, I've changed the name of the club, but the locations are real places that we run.

There’s ONE reason Rey likes Mondays more than the average person should.

Mondays meant meeting up with her running club after work, talking about the day, and catching up with her running buddies. Sometimes they’d even get dinner after they were done. Just depended on the occasion and how far they ran. 

Rey laced up her shoes, eager to have her first run of the year in the daylight.

The darkness had really gotten to her and she was sick of having to wear her safety gear.

Grabbing her keys, earbuds, cards, and phone, she inhaled and groaned at the smell of dinner wafting through the air.

“Bye guys! Save some food for me!” She hollered to Paige and Rose, who were in the kitchen cooking. Mondays were Meatless Mondays in their apartment, and they were whipping up their seriously addictive Cauliflower Walnut Tacos. They always knew to make a big batch because of Rey’s ravenous post-run appetite. 

“Have fun!”

She locked the door and ambled down the hallway, shoving stuff into the pockets of her capris. It took a little longer to take the stairs versus taking the elevator, but she figured taking the stairs would get the legs moving after a long day of work. Even though she spends long days on her feet working at her local running store, Thunder Comet, it was nice to be moving outside the realm of the store. After analyzing gaits, assessing strides all day, and fitting people for their dream shoes, she was relieved to get fresh air.

It wasn’t that far to their meetup spot, but she still put on her music to get out of her head. After doing some quick dynamic stretches, she let herself settle into an easy cadence to get her body warmed up.

She was used to the curious glances of the Amazonians as she trudged her way down Westlake Avenue towards the MOHAI. They were all on their way home from work, thankful to be done with another long day at the office. She normally didn’t think about anything while she was running. If there was any thought in her head, it was what the most open path to run through because apparently no one knew what right and left meant. Sometimes it made her want to flip a table.

“On your lef- oh hey!” Poe turned at her voice and waved.

“Hey! How was your day?” He asked, slowing down to match her pace. 

“Eh, the usual right around this time,” she chuckled. It was edging onto spring AND spring/summer racing season, which meant that people were coming in droves to the store, eager to give running a try, or to break in new shoes because they had to retire their other ones. The thrill on their face when they found their shoes never got old.

“Nice. Work was work, as usual. Although we’re getting close to getting Spotify up and running, thank fuck,” he replied. Poe worked for Amazon, like 90% of the people in the city. He was on the Amazon Music Team: from what Rey understood, his job was to help build the code to help music run on Alexa. They worked in completely different worlds, and Poe was sweet enough to always lay out his day in layman's terms.

“Oh! I almost forgot to mention, I managed to convince my coworker Ben to come! He said he needed to finish up something at the office, but he’d meet up at the MOHAI.”

Rey grinned. Poe is always trying to get his coworkers to come with the promise of making new friends and _literally everyone is attractive_. It also didn’t hurt to mention that it was free. Why they thought that they would have to pay to come meet up and run was beyond her. So far, no luck. Until today.

* * *

She could see the crowd of people milling around in the parking lot and felt her heart swell. After she got her job at Thunder Comet after college (being a former collegiate track and cross country runner has its perks), she found the most wonderful community. She befriended Finn and Phasma within the first couple of weeks working there and it turned out that they had founded a running club a few years back. 

It didn’t take that much convincing on their part to get her to come out. It was love at first run, and she was hooked on the energy and the people from that point out. It didn’t take long for her to make friends with a handful of them, and then it turned into something beautiful. She had been with the group for about a year, but it felt like a lifetime.

After she exchanged hugs with some of the others, Phasma and Finn made their way to the middle of the semblance of a circle.

“Alrighty! Hello and welcome to Monday Runday!” Phasma called out, scanning the crowd, pleased with the new faces.

“I’m Phasma-”

“And I’m Finn,” he interjected.

“And we are the cofounders of What the Hill Run Club! We meet here at the MOHAI every Monday at 6:30pm, and we run 3 to 5 miles, _but you can run whatever you want_ ,” she added with a soft, gentle voice, seeing people’s faces twist at the mileage. 

“We also meet up on Wednesdays down south in Georgetown for a cruise run at the same time, 1 to 3 miles. Saturday mornings, for you weekend warriors, we meet here at the MOHAI at 8am for 6 miles and above,” Finn added.

There were noises of approval in the crowd. 

She could see someone from the distance bounding towards the group. He looked like he was about to keel over.

_Poor guy._

“Whose first time is it tonight?” A few shy hands went up, followed by cheers from everyone else. They were surprised at the applause, but preened at the immediate acceptance.

“We’re gonna go around and introduce ourselves. Let us know if it’s your first time. I don’t expect you to remember everyone’s name, but if you can remember ONE, that’s totally awesome! I’ll start.”

Everyone said their name. Every time there was a “first time”, a chorus of whoops followed.

“Ben...uh, first time?” The guy from earlier spoke up, running his hand nervously through his hair. He smiled at the applause and then locked eyes with Rey since she was standing next to Poe. 

Poe elbowed her in the ribs and waggled his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes and gently smacked him. The guy had been trying to set her up with someone ever since they met. She knew that he meant well, but dating was not on her list of priorities. 

As it stood, she was training for her first marathon, which pretty much sucked up all of her time when she wasn’t at work. 

The Rock N Roll Seattle Marathon was notorious for the rolling hills, namely the 3rd Avenue West hill that brought runners to their knees (“I swear to God you go uphill both ways during that race,” per Finn), but Rey loved a good challenge.

She tried not to stare at him, but…

Simply put, Ben was _gorgeous_.

She guessed he was at _least_ six foot and built like a brick house. He had long, thick black hair that was begging to have fingers run through it, and she could tell that he worked out underneath the dark tech shirt he was wearing. The shirt highlighted how broad his shoulders were and how it tapered to a slim waist. His mesh shorts made his legs look miles long. 

Finally dragging her eyes back up to his, their eyes met and she was taken aback at how dark they were. She blushed as he also tried his best NOT to glance up and down at her, but failed. The tips of his ears turned pink and he stared at his feet, but couldn’t help but look back up at her. It was evident that he was interested in how she looked, even though her outfit wasn’t anything even remotely interesting: A fitted white tank top paired with a pair of red running capris that had seen better days. 

“Who’s running three miles?” Phasma asked, breaking her train of thought.

Poe grabbed her hand and raised it, evident that he would need her support to get Ben to run. Ben tentatively raised his hand too, still not having broken eye contact with her. 

They went through their quick warm-up and gathered to get started.

“Alright and if you have an Apple watch or whatever, start it now,” Finn instructed, fiddling with his own watch.

And then they were off.

Poe jogged over to Ben, slowing down to match his pace. Rey caught up to them in no time.

“Hey Ben! Glad you could make it!” Poe exclaimed, clapping him on the back.

He grunted, but smiled. “I don’t know what possessed me to come out here. I love working out, but goddamn running is just something that I could never get into. At least I’m running with someone I know.”

“It’s all about the community here,” Poe emphasized. “Some people are just here to get in shape, and others are training for races, like Cassian and Jyn. They’re married and they’re training for their first ultra together.”

As if on cue, a couple flew past the group, clearly going for a tempo run pace.

“Anyway, Ben, Rey. Rey, Ben.” 

He smiled shyly at her.

“Nice to meet you, Rey.”

“You too, Ben.”

They stopped before the Fremont Bridge, with Ben looking like he was going to pass out, yet again. He was hunched over with his hands on his knees. 

“I take it that you’re not big on cardio?” Rey teased.

He huffed out a laugh. “Nah. I’m more into weightlifting nowadays. I’d like to get better at cardio though. It’ll make me more, uh, well-rounded. I rowed in college, but that’s a different beast and that was years ago.” 

Finally finding his footing to stand up, he looked at her in awe. “How do you look like you haven’t broken a sweat and I’m over here dying?”

Poe cut in. “Okay, this _Beast_ right here. She eats 5ks for breakfast. Miss ‘Oh I’m only gonna run an easy 10 miles because I ran track and cross country at Chandrila University and I can do this backwards and blindfolded.’” 

She rolled her eyes at the nickname. It was such a juxtaposition given how small she was, but she liked it anyway. 

“I’m also marathon training, so today is my easy day,” she threw in, trying not to laugh at how wide Ben’s eyes got.

“Well, _fuck,_ ” Ben whistled. “That explains it.”

She offered a fist-bump, which he returned.

“Maybe someday, you can keep up with me,” she laughed.

He smiled again at her, sending her heart into a little flutter. “I’ll have to make that my personal mission.”

After everyone in the 3 mile group made it, they headed back towards the MOHAI. Rey strided ahead of them so that she could start for the traditional tunnel with the other 3 milers who finished with her.

Ben had a look of confusion on his face that turned into pure delight as people stretched out their hands, offering high-fives all the way down. 

“And this is what keeps me coming back. It’s the energy and it’s the people,” she explained. 

He nodded in agreement and glanced at Poe, who looked like he was about to combust if Ben backed out. “Alright Poe, you got me. I’ll start coming more often.”

Poe sighed with relief and clapped his shoulder. “Now, those tacos I promised you…”

Rey rolled her eyes. “Do you always have to bribe them with food?”

He held up his hands in defense. “Hey, if it’s any incentive for them to come out, I’ll use it. Not like we go out _every_ Monday for tacos.” 

She suddenly remembered the tacos that were waiting for her at home. Pulling out her phone, she sent a quick text to Rose.

**Sorry, got pulled into having tacos with Poe and his coworker. I’ll be staying out a little later.**

The reply was almost immediate.

_Is his coworker cute???_

She hesitated, but she bit her lip and typed out exactly what she was thinking.

**Oh God he’s so pretty I could cry**

_I WANT DETAILS WHEN YOU COME HOME :D_

She swore Rose was almost as bad as Poe sometimes.

* * *

“Anyway,” Poe offered, “our usual spot?”

“Usual spot it is,” she replied, turning to walk. They soon followed.

“What’s so special about this spot?” Ben asked, falling in stride with them.

Poe shrugged. “They’re not groundbreaking, but they’re cheap, delicious, and the service is good. Plus, they’re street tacos, so you can have, like, five of them.”

They opened the door to the cantina and Maz, the owner, waved at them. 

“Hey you two! I see you brought a victim,” she teased, noting Ben’s face.

“Hey Maz! Be nice to him! We’re hoping to keep him around for a while,” Rey replied, winking at Ben. 

“I kid, I kid. Anyway, the usual for you two?” 

“Yes, ma’am!”

They paid and Poe left to lock down a table.

Ben shuffled to the register, looked at the menu, and then at Rey. “So, what’s good here?”

“Personally, I get the house tacos and chicken tacos. I’ve been here enough that they know my order by heart.”

The guy at the register smiled plainly at Ben. “Hey man. What can I get for you?”

“Uh, I’ll have what she’s having,” he replied, nodding towards Rey.

“You’re missing the first part from _When Harry Met Sally_!” Maz hollered from the kitchen without missing a beat. Rey groaned and facepalmed. She loved the woman to death, but her moxie was a little bit too much sometimes.

They finally sat down after getting their orders and chowed down. Rey had to stifle a moan at how delicious the tacos were. Her last solid meal was around lunchtime, and even after that, she had a banana along with a granola bar in the afternoon for a snack before the run. The struggle to not inhale all of them in one go was real.

Finally breaking away long enough to breathe, she gulped down some water. “So Ben, what’s your story?”

He looked up at her, mouth of food. He made a noise that resembled “Hm?”

“Of course as I ask you with your mouth stuffed,” she laughed. “My bad.”

He swallowed. “All good. Um, I mean I grew up in the area, so I’m a born and raised Washingtonian. Went to Coruscant College and majored in Computer Science. I got hired at Amazon after I graduated in 2014. Been there ever since and then I met Poe. Annnnd now here I am.”

“Oh come on. There _has_ to be more to you than that. Like what about dumb shit you did in high school or college? Random jobs?” Rey asked. 

He waved his hand. “I’m pretty boring.”

She stared at him. “I mean...you mentioned you were on the rowing team? That’s the _opposite_ of boring.”

He shrugged. “Pretty much everyone on the rowing team was the same as me: socially awkward, but somehow inclined to be able to work as a singular unit out on the water. We did pretty well. I ended up rowing all 4 years.”

Poe looked at him incredulously at how simplistic Ben made it sound. “Dude, didn’t you row professionally after college?” 

Ben blushed and started working on another taco as he continued. “Yeah, I mean I did it for a couple of years. But it was a pain in the ass to work full time AND train. I ended up quitting. Kind of a shame because I loved my team. Lost a lot of my fitness after that. After Poe kept dragging my ass to the gym, I ended up getting back into weightlifting. And THEN he wouldn’t shut up about his running club. I figured ‘Eh, what the hell, why not try it out?’”

Rey was impressed. For someone who was literally a professional athlete, he didn’t brag about it like it was a badge of honor.

“By the way, these are delicious,” he told Rey. “How often do you guys come here?”

Her and Poe looked at each other. “I mean, maybe a few times a month? It adds up.”

He nodded. “Well, I mean I’ll come for the run on Mondays even without the tacos. But still, I won’t say no to these.”

After they cleaned up, they convened outside the cantina.

“Great meeting you Ben. I’ll see you on Mondays more often, hopefully?” Rey asked. She threw in her best puppy eyes for good measure.

He smiled. “Well how can I say no to a face like that?” 

She grinned and offered him her hand. He looked at it for a split second and took it. She tried not to gape at how large his hand was in hers. Smoothing her hand on her thigh, she fumbled with her earbuds. 

“Saturday, Poe?” She asked.

“Saturday.”

They exchanged good nights and went their separate ways.

She turned on her music and was about to start the jog back to her apartment.

As she turned around to watch the guys head back to the office, she saw Ben turn around to look at her too. 

He offered her a smile and wave before running to catch up with Poe.

Her and Rose were going to have a lot to talk about. 


	2. LSD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saturday mornings are for the weekend warriors. Poe and Rey are determined to make one out of Ben.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiii I'm bad at updating.
> 
> This year has been a dumpster fire and work has been insane.
> 
> I've done, like, 4 or 5 virtual half marathons (idk my friends I lost count) and two virtual marathons so far this year, with one more virtual marathon to go, because it's 2020 and I've lost control of my life.

As soon as Rey closed the door, Rose’s voice immediately rang out.

“Girl, spill!”

Rey paused to drop off her things in the little catchall tray and took off her shoes.

“Hang on, let me stretch, shower and all that, and then I can talk!”

After all was said and done, all three of them settled on the couch. Paige and Rose were one side, grinning from ear to ear.

“So. This coworker….” Paige trailed off.

Rey gulped down her water before speaking. “Um, okay. So,” she exhaled before groaning into her hands, “Fuck me, he’s gorgeous. Like someone out of a goddamn Jane Austen novel. 10/10 would climb like a tree.”

Rose’s eyes bugged out of her head. “Damn Rey, you must have it bad. I feel like it’s been FOREVER since we heard you get this thirsty over a guy.”

“Not like I’m getting much action nowadays anyway. I  _ literally _ forgot the last time that I got laid,” she grumbled.

“So what are you gonna do?” 

Rey shrugged. “I suppose just be friends for now and see if anything happens? I guess the first question is if he’s gonna last in our club. Not that we run crazy distances or anything like that, but there’s that perception about runners…”

“That they’re all animals and are crazy for running because they  _ want _ to?” Paige posed.

“Yup.”

They both nodded. “Well, whatever happens, you KNOW we want to know.” 

Rey chuckled before standing up. She stretched out before heading off to bed. “Of course.”

* * *

  
  


She wasn’t fond of Wednesdays as part of her marathon training schedule because it meant her one hard workout of the week. The only reason that she wasn’t freaking out as much as she normally would was because Brooks had just released their new racing shoe, the Brooks Hyperion Elites, kept her distracted and it was an  _ incredibly _ busy day at work. Everyone and their mother was in the store, vying for a chance to try them on and experience the wonder of a carbon fiber plated shoe. People were weaving in and out of the store, taking it to the pavement. The look on their faces when they returned to the store was enough of the sign that they were willing to shell out the money for it. Although normally she wouldn’t spend the money on it, the fact that she had a pretty sweet discount made it  _ really _ tempting. 

But that was for another time.

By the time that she clocked out of work, she was itching to go blow off some steam on the track. 

Luckily, Comet Thunder was on the edge of Green Lake, so by all accounts, her jog over to the track was her warm up.

Her running coach Luke had been sending workouts through to her watch, which was helpful because whenever she ran, pretty much all brain function went out the window. 

Today was one of one of the few track workouts that she can actually tolerate. It was the reverse pyramid workout. It was certainly physically and mentally challenging, but it wasn’t as bad as the HIIT workouts that Luke often had her do. Those were absolute torture. 

After doing her dynamic stretches, and strides to get her ready to go, she started her running playlist. The music that she listened to while she ran varied on occasion. If it was a long run or just a short run, she would play her upbeat, poppy music. If it was a hard workout, her go-to music is anything EDM. 

As the watch beeped, signaling the start of the actual workout, she took that cleansing breath and went  _ off _ .

The order of the workout was fairly simple:

2 laps at race pace

1 lap recovery

1 lap at race pace

Half a lap at race pace

1 lap recovery

1 lap race pace

1 lap recovery

2 laps at race pace

The final two laps were always the worst because it felt like they went on forever and that her legs were going to give out on her. It also didn’t help that the workout was ending on the longest segment. 

Whenever she felt like she was going to fail, she always imagined running through the finish line of her first marathon. The crowd roaring, her friends screaming her name and cheering for her...it never failed to light that fire inside of her. 

Once she crossed the imaginary finish line at the end of the straightaway, she slowed herself down and found herself on all fours on the grass. She rolled over and stared at the sky, wondering how on earth she was going to be able to hit the goal paces that Luke had set for her. The last time she was able to hit those numbers was when she was in high school. There was no doubt that she was getting faster, but in her mind, she wasn’t getting faster at the rate that she wanted...

“Rey, you okay?”

Her thoughts were interrupted to find Poe and Ben looking down at her. Poe looked amused while Ben on the other hand looked mildly concerned.

She managed to sit herself up and stretch out her legs. The two of them joined her on the ground, clearly having just finished up a run of their own.

“What did you two get up to while I was over here dying?” She laughed, placing the soles of her feet together. 

“Just a loop of Green Lake,” Poe shrugged. “Although we ended up going from the inner loop to the outer loop because it was too crowded. Ben even kept up with me today!”

Rey glanced at him, pleased, and Ben blushed.

“I will say that I’m pretty proud of myself, considering I was dying on Monday. Little victories,” he chuckled. “It helped that we were able to talk about work. It was certainly a distraction from the pain in my legs.” 

“So does that mean you’ll come out this Saturday morning?” She teased.

It was almost comical at how wide Ben’s eyes got. He looked to Poe, who just made a face that said, “Up to you.”

“We’re not THAT fast. I mean some people are, but typically Saturdays are a little slower since we’re going longer. Not as many people come out on Saturdays, but the ones that do, they love it,” she reassured. Really, she was just looking for an excuse to see him more than  _ hopefully _ once a week.

Ben gulped. “How long?”

“One loop of Lake Union is about 6 miles. You covered about half that distance today, so I think you can manage,” Poe replied. “Dude, you’re overthinking it. And Rey is right; we definitely go at a more chill pace. Think about this way, we should be able to talk while we’re running.” 

“....How can you talk and run at the same time?”

“Well, we really shouldn’t be going balls to the wall on Saturdays in terms of pace. We save that for race day,” Rey replied with a wink. 

Ben looked deep in thought. She couldn’t help but notice that his face got adorably scrunched up.

“Alright, you both made a good argument. If I go down at any point on Saturday, you’re responsible for getting me home in one piece.”

She grinned. “Yay! You’re going to love it!” 

After they parted ways, she practically skipped back to Comet Thunder to gather her things before getting on the bus to head home.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Looking at the screen, it was Poe.

_ I think we’re going to have to sweeten him up with a post-run meal. _

**_Again?_ **

_ Gotta refuel after a run, dude! _

**_It’s only 6 miles._ **

_ Doesn’t matter! He thinks that anything over 3 is a gargantuan achievement. _

**_Fair enough. What did you have in mind?_ **

_ I was thinking maybe just coffee and breakfast sandwiches at that fancy coffee shop over by MOHAI? _

**_...Which one? :P_ **

_ Uh….Oh! Kakao? They have really good pastries. And it’s only a couple of blocks from the MOHAI. _

**_Sounds good!_ **

_ See you then! :)  _

* * *

The rest of the week was a blur between work and the recovery runs.

It was a good thing that Luke planned out recovery runs; her legs felt like they were hit by a truck after that track workout. Speed wasn’t her forte, per say, but she loves the challenge. She also loves it when he scales back the long runs every few weeks to give her body a break. Technically she was supposed to be getting in around 10 miles today. If she started her run earlier and got in some extra miles, she could just run the loop with the rest of the group and call it good. It meant getting up a little bit earlier, but it was worth the sacrifice. 

Saturday morning around 6:30am, she rolled out of bed, slipping on her clothes in a stupor. The forecast called for mid 50s and cloudy for the morning, which meant she could probably get away with capris and a t-shirt. 

Rey ambled into the kitchen and brewed coffee for everyone. Rose and Paige wouldn’t be up for at least another, but they needed caffeine like water. 

While the coffee was brewing, she idly ate her usual pre-run breakfast: toast with a generous glob of peanut butter, banana slices on top, and sprinkled with cinnamon. She liked her coffee with a little bit of creamer. Even though she’s a Seattleite, and thus assumed to be a coffee snob, she mainly goes for the caffeine, not for the taste. 

After getting her things together, she did her pre-run warmup before even leaving the apartment. 

It was fairly simple: a combination of air squats, lunges, butt kicks, leg swings, and hamstring stretches. 

Her coach, Obi Wan, at her old high school, Endor High, instilled in her the importance of warming up before actually running. She used to think that warming up before she ran would take away from her run. He always used the analogy of a car in winter; one wouldn’t go immediately for a drive in the winter without warming up the car first because it’d do more harm than good. Same thing for running.

After her pre-run warm up, she headed downstairs, mentally mapping out her route. She supposed that she could do a loop of downtown and then circle back towards South Lake Union. Thank god for Seattle having a grid system. 

Once she exited her apartment, she scrolled through her Garmin to get to the workout that Luke installed. She was surprised that she hadn’t heard about this coaching technique before, but she was so thankful for Luke and his approach to coaching.

_ She had reached out to him on Instagram after seeing one of his posts under the hashtag “running”. His profile was intriguing: it was a mix of at-home exercises, scientific posts about how to improve your running, and testimonials from clients. She sent him a message and he replied within the hour. He suggested scheduling for a free video consultation. _

_ He reminded her a LOT of Obi. Maybe it was the gray hair, or maybe it was the paternal air about him. Their conversation was an engaging one. He asked her about her running background (cross country and track in high school AND college) and her goals (Sub 4 hour marathon, maybe qualify for Boston down the line).  _

_ He went through his spiel about how he coaches his clients: doing an “All-Out test” and a maximum heart rate test to start. The training blocks being 3 weeks long, with the 4th being a recovery week, before increasing in intensity.  _

_ “Before we even begin training, I need to get some data. I do my training based on heart rate. You’ll be doing one hard workout per week, which puts you in the red zone. The rest will be in the green zone.” _

_ “No orange zone, like those Orange Theory classes?” _

_ He chuckled. “No. You’d think that in order to train for longer distances, you NEED to be hitting your race pace every single time. But that just isn’t true. Because I have you training below the lactate threshold for the majority of your runs, it’ll be a LOT easier for you to increase your mileage for your long runs because you’re not gassing yourself out. The one hard run will be HIIT workouts. Yes, they’re going to be hard. But you’ll be increasing your VO2 max, and thereby your body will be able to use oxygen more efficiently in the long run. Even with just knowing your baseline of fitness, I’m fairly confident that you’ll be able to break 4 hours in June.”  _

_ She tapped her pen against her temple. “Alright, let’s do this.” _

_ His eyes lit up and he grinned. “I think you and I are going to make a great team.” _

Her running music of choice this morning was certainly more chill, considering how early it was. After getting herself up to a comfortable pace, she started on one of her usual loops: up Blanchard towards 4th, north on 4th towards Westlake (she imagined running the Torchlight Run; a fun summer race), turning on Pike and running towards Pike Place Market, and down the cobblestone past all of the tourists who were smart enough to beat the crowd. She turned the corner after the park and glided down the hill, and walked down all the stairs to the waterfront.

She welcomed the wind whipping her face; it was a great way to wake up. There were a few people meandering up and down the waterfront, enjoying their morning cups of coffee with their conversations. 

Rey groaned as she remembered that Broad Street was all uphill. She made sure to slow down so that her heart rate remained in the green zone. It was a bit of a learning curve having to slow down so that her Garmin wasn’t constantly chirping that her heart rate was too high. Eventually, she got the hang of it.

Seeing the Space Needle and Seattle Center looming in the distance made her feel better. Once she got to Seattle Center, it was relatively flat.

Well, until she had to go up Mercer Street. At least it wasn’t as steep.

She loved running through Seattle Center when there wasn’t anything going on. It made it feel...normal. Same thing with Pike Place Market. She’s gone there often enough to get her produce that she just sees it as a farmer’s market and not the iconic tourist attraction that most people know it for. 

Rey cruised down the promenade past McCaw Hall and made it onto Mercer Street. Going down the hill and immediately up never failed to bring her joy. After passing the new mini golf slash bar, she could recognize Poe, Phasma, Cassian, Jyn, Kaydel, Amilyn and one very sleepy looking Ben. 

As she approached the group, Poe waved at her. Ben seemed to track his movements and smiled at her. 

“Getting in some bonus miles?” Phasma asked with a grin.

“Yeah, Luke has me running 10 today, so I figured I’d get in the first 4 on my own. I’d rather finish my run with everyone rather than having to split off to finish alone,” she replied as she paused her watch, bending over to stretch out her hamstrings. 

“Talk about being an early bird. I don’t know how you guys do it,” Ben chimed in.

Rey paused to stretch out her quads. “Well, if you want something bad enough, you’ll do whatever it takes to get it. Like...I’m trying to break 4 hours for my first marathon. I’m sure that I can do, but I need to get the training in to make it a reality.”

Everyone but Ben nodded sagely. 

Phasma smiled. “Alrighty! Good morning everyone. Looks like it’s a fairly small group. But, let’s still take a poll. Who is running 6 miles?”

Rey, Poe, and Ben raised their hands.

“Okay, I’m running about 10. 12?”

Kaydel raised her hand. 

“14?”

Amilyn raised her hand.

“Over 16?”

Jyn and Cassian raised their hands. 

“Yeah, we’re running 20 miles today,” Jyn explained. “Our race isn’t for a few months, but we’re really trying to get some mileage in this weekend.”

Ben’s jaw was on the floor. “...What race are you training for?”

“It’s called the Bigfoot 40. It’s a 40 mile race going around Mt. St. Helens. We want to run Western States 100 eventually, but we want to work our way up.”

Rey whistled appreciatively. She has yet to try her hand at trail running, but it was something that’s been in the back of her mind. 

After a quick warm-up and the obligatory selfie to post to the group Facebook page, they were off. While they initially stayed together, eventually everyone broke off into their own groups. Soon, it was just the three of them.

“How was your run this morning, Rey?” Poe asked.

“Pretty good! Avoided the tourists this morning, although I will say that they tend to come out around 10am. It was nice being able to enjoy the waterfront without having to weave in and out of the crowd. What did you two get up to this morning?”

“Well, did some yoga this morning because my body hated me after that weightlifting session yesterday. My joints sounded like bubble wrap. Wait, they still do,” Poe rolled his shoulders and winced. He flapped his arms around and smiled. “Ah, much better.”

Ben laughed. “Dude, you pushed yourself way too hard.”

“You’re one to talk. You’re the one who was just beasting it out on the bent-over rows and the deadlifts! I’m surprised you’re not as sore as I am.”

“Because I know to have a recovery drink afterwards instead of...whatever the hell you had. What was that, anyway?”

Poe huffed before taking a sip of water. “Excuse you, it was a recovery gummy. The dude at the store said that it was good for muscle recovery!”

“He lied.”

Rey rolled her eyes. Men.

“Anyway, I was happy as a clam this morning. I did a little bit of foam rolling because my shoulders were pretty tight. Other than that, I just tidied up my apartment before coming here.”

The conversation ebbed and flowed as they made their way down the Burke-Gilman Trail and across Eastlake. It was nice being able to run with friends. She didn’t realize how lonely marathon training could be sometimes when she was running with the group only twice a week, running the other 3 days on her own.

She learned that Ben’s parents worked in education: his mother was the Dean of Admissions at the University of Washington and his father was an Electrical Engineer professor. They were surprised that he didn’t want to attend the same university that they worked at, but he insisted that he get into college of his own merit and not because of his family. All the same, he got a scholarship to Coruscant and the rest was history.

Ben laughed out loud when she talked about her family history and how similar they were: Her parents worked at Seattle University. Her mom was a clinical instructor in the College of Nursing (“She still works over at Swedish on the floor, although she had to drop to part time in order to balance out working for the university.”) and her father was a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences. Turns out, he’s one of the premiere graphic designers in the Seattle area.

“Did your mother want you to become a nurse? That seemed to be a trend at my college,” he teased.

“Actually, no! Which was surprising. I mean, I majored in Sports and Exercise Physiology. Seemed to fit based on my interests. I’m actually studying to become a personal trainer. Eventually, I hope to become a running coach on the side of working at the running store.”

“Dude, I can already see you training the best of the best,” Poe sighed. “You’ve got the drive and the passion!” 

“Aw, thanks Poe!”

The three of them continued talking about their goals in life, and it was clear that Ben was a natural part of the trio.

They didn’t know it, but soon enough, they were coming down Eastlake, signaling the end of their run. 

Ben blinked. “Wait, we’re done?”

“Told ya,” Rey elbowed him gently in the ribs, “conversational pace.”

“Well...shit. That wasn’t as bad as I thought that it was!”

Rey and Poe grinned at each other.

“So, breakfast?” She initiated, slowing down to stop her watch. 

“Yes, please! I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.”

The three of them moseyed over to Kakao. While they were laughing over their coffee and breakfast sandwiches, Rey couldn’t help but notice that Ben kept glancing over at her. He was trying to be subtle, but when she caught him, he blushed and ducked into his coffee. 

She glanced back at him too and smiled, holding his gaze. Rey could tell that the cogs were turning in Poe’s head based on the way that his eyes kept bouncing back and forth between the two of them.

Soon enough, it was time for the three of them to part ways. They lingered on the sidewalk.

“What do you guys have going on the rest of the day?” She asked, stretching out her legs again.

“Eh. Boring adult shit, like laundry and grocery shopping. Might hit up that brewery in Capitol Hill that has a million taps tonight if I feel up to it,” Ben responded with a grumble.

She guffawed. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Not a chance.”

They said their goodbyes and Rey went back to her apartment.

Her phone pinged a couple of times when she was almost back.

The first was a text from Poe.

_ He’s so into you. _

The second was a Facebook request from one Ben Solo.

Rey grinned like an idiot at her phone, accepting it without hesitation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the feedback! 
> 
> I modeled Luke after my own running coach, although mine is my age (we're both 28). We're not working together right now, but I messaged him that I wanted to work with him again for Chicago (and maybe Berlin) 2021.
> 
> Side note: I tried the original Hyperion Elites and they were mehhhh. I have the Hyperion Elite 2s and they are *chef's kiss* 
> 
> Yes, I literally mapped out the route that Rey ran. It's about 4.1 miles. CLOSE ENOUGH. And yes, the Bigfoot 40 is an actual race.

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't think of a Star Wars punny run club name, so I found a generic one online. If anyone has better suggestions, I'm all ears! Drop it in a comment below :)


End file.
